GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Police Department on Wednesday welcomed Robert Snook as its newest officer.
With an extensive background in law enforcement and military service, Snook brings his talents from the state of New York to serve a community that he believes aligns with his values.
"It feels amazing," Snook said. "I really appreciate the opportunity to serve the community."
He emphasized that he likes what the city has to offer and believes Great Falls is an environment where he can relate to the people.
He noted, "Obviously it's a change from New York, but the city of Great Falls is just a working class community. I come from a working class family and it just seemed like a great fit for me ... I just look forward to getting to know the community, and serving the community, and I'm just honestly happy for the opportunity."
GFPD says adding a new police officer is a major step in the mission to protect and to serve.
Lt. Tony Munkres of the GFPD said, ""It's always enjoyable to see a guy get hired. They work hard to get here. We work hard to select the right person. As far as us goes, it obviously helps our manning, but it also helps put the department in a better position to serve the community."
Lt. Doug Mahlum expanded upon his colleague's point: "Every time we make a new hire to the Great Falls Police Department, we're bringing somebody into our community at the Police Department, but also into our community in Great Falls. We have massive community support. We love that, we also know that can be lost instantaneously, and we're looking for recruits and applicants, we're making sure that they, one, have a good fit to our community."
But recruiting isn't easy. A decline in applications presents challenges to the goal of getting fully staffed.
Mahlum explained, "We've seen a decline in applicants recently, just like everybody else in the workforce and the community, but we believe we have a package that we can sell to anybody. We pay our officers well, it is a good paying job in the community of Great Falls. We work for it, it's a tough job, but we need people who are willing to serve and put themselves as a part of something bigger than just themselves. So we're looking for people who are currently working in different jobs that might consider a career change. The more diversity we can get, it's better for our agency and community as well."
If you're interested in applying, click here.
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